Carrie Browstein

Carrie Brownstein has best been known as a member of the now defunct rock band, Sleater-Kinney, but fans should soon be singing her praises for an entirely different reason with the Jan. 21 debut of IFC's "Portlandia." The offbeat, outrageous sketch comedy show that she co-created with "Saturday Night Live"'s Fred Armisen, showcases the artist as a more than competent comic, slipping into one unique and hysterical character after another. Despite the experience, Brownstein said she had no desire to join Armisen on live television.

"On film, you can make a mistake and do it over," she told TV critics Friday, the second day of the TV Critics Assocation press tour. "Same with music. If you make a mistake, you just turn the amp up."

A much more experienced comedian, Joan Rivers, was also on hand to promote the WE reality series, "Joan Knows Best?" She told reporters that it was "abominable" that the documentary about her, "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work," did not get an Oscar nomination.

She was told by insiders that it wasn't "socially significantly enough.""If I was smart, I would have carried a kid around with me," she said.

Others appearing Friday on the tour included Toni Braxton, Diane Lane, James Gandolfini, William Hurt and Samuel L. Jackson.